The Other Side: Dare To Visit Alone?
Page 24
“Night was a very different matter. It was dense, thicker than the very walls, and it was empty, so black, so immense that within it you could brush against appalling things and feel roaming and prowling
around a strange, mysterious horror.”
¯ Guy de Maupassant
Epilogue
T
he half moon lights up the surroundings with an eerie white light as the two men reach the gates of the abandoned Bhangarh fort. The ASI board mentioning that visitors are not allowed to enter post sunset greets them. The younger one deftly ignores the sign and the older gentleman gently glances at it in an apprehensive manner. A tenminute walk and some hushed whispers later they reach the breach in the wall that is just wide enough for them to sneak in the periphery of the fort. They pause for a moment to catch their breaths, hammering hearts going berserk with the idea of what they are about to attempt. The older guy, Vivek wonders whether the exertion was from the effort of the steep uphill trek or the excitement of their adventure. Both he and the younger chap, Faraaz are dressed in long sneakers, bulgy cargo pants and thick brown jackets to keep out the chill of the desert night while woolen caps lie perched on their heads, rolled down to their ears. They are carrying most of the equipment they would require for the adventure in the knapsacks strapped around their shoulders. Two powerful torches and a pair of stout sticks complete their armory.
Faraaz does not seem really happy about carrying sticks. “They make me feel old and silly,” he argues. Vivek however is insistent. “I know they will not protect us from other things. But I am sure there are snakes, jackals and other wild animals that sneak in at night. And somehow, I feel much braver with this in my hands.”
The adventure has been a culmination of over three months of research and minute planning. To follow the trail of the supernatural, they had sourced a lot of 'Ghost hunting' equipment from the internet, gone over the list of supposedly haunted places in India, and decided to start their research from Bhangarh, the abandoned ghost town near the Sariska tiger reserve in Rajasthan that had been reportedly voted as one of the most haunted spots in the world.
“Sure looks different from when we visited this place in daytime,” Faraaz whispers.
Vivek nods in agreement. “Let's walk towards the dancer's palace. We will set up the equipment there.” With their sneakers kicking stray stones and crunching dead leaves, they move ahead when suddenly Vivek seems to pause. He looks at the step-well ahead with the eyes of a skeptic.
“What?” Faraaz shouts, seemingly irritated as he bumps into Vivek's backpack.
“Isn't this the same step-well that is supposed to be haunted by the Rani's ghost?” Vivek mumbles.
“Hmmm…I guess so; the rani who rejected the evil tantrik's advances after forming an alliance with him to mow down all in her path with the support of black magic. Bad choice!” Faraaz answers, moving towards the well. Vivek shoots out an arm to hold him back.
“The dancer's palace, remember?” Vivek says, pushing the young lad ahead of him.
“Yeah, the most sinister part of this fort. I'm all for it!” Faraaz practically skips ahead.
A huge stray cloud covers the moon throwing a dark shadow on the happenings below. Both Vivek and Faraaz switch on their torches and the beams cut a bright swathe through the darkness illuminating the boulder-strewn path they are following. The deathly quiet night bides its time, watching them, waiting for them, its breath easing out fear, slow and steady. They feel that the night is yet to make its move as their footsteps crunch the gravel and they gingerly walk ahead, slowly now.
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A sudden rustling sound draws their attention and they jump out of their skins, almost expecting someone to pounce over them that very instant.
“Look!” Faraaz points towards a huge odd shaped tree near the ramparts of the fort. The branches sway with a powerful force almost as if they are dancing together in the absence of any breeze. They feel their hearts lurch as both focus their torches at the tree. The beam shows a group of simians happily jumping from one branch to another while a pair silently watches them from a distance.
“Phew, Langurs!” Faraaz laughs and Vivek joins in a second later. They reach the Haveli and enter inside through a narrow flight of stairs that date back centuries. They place their feet on the invisible footprints of the royal inhabitants of this palace, denizens who people say can still be heard in the dead of the night. Just as they turn, a huge colony of bats swoops down at them, screeching till the hairs on the back of their neck stand on an end. Both duck simultaneously and cover their ears till the flying mammals zoom away, not happy at being disturbed by unexpected guests.
“Ah, what a welcome!” Vivek sighs. Faraaz tries to stifle his laughter but ends out letting go of a cough, making it seem involuntary by patting his own back.
Ignoring the incident, they quickly start setting up the equipment with renewed vigour. Faraaz takes out three motion detector alarms from his knapsack and goes about placing them in different corners. Two of them go into the spacious courtyard while the third one is placed in the main hall. Meanwhile Vivek fumbles with the portable EMF meters and the digital thermal laser temperature recorders that check unexplained variations in the electro magnetic field and temperature respectively. He also extracts the powerful infrared night vision camcorder that aids vision in the dark, just in case they miss something due to their human sight. Faraaz, in the meanwhile, holds onto the digital EVP recorder that might come handy in catching sounds beyond the realm of human hearing.
“Arghh… We're carrying too much equipment. We need four hands to lug all this stuff around,” Faraaz cribs.
Vivek smiles in reply, his teeth glowing in the light of the night vision camera. He manages to do a friendly hi to the Vivek in the camera. The Vivek in the camera greets him back at the same time.
“We need to clip the EMF meters to our jackets. The temperature records can be switched on and slipped into the pockets of the cargos. We'll carry the torch and the stick in our hands. I'll set up the camera on a tripod and if necessary we can lug it around instead of carrying the sticks,” Faraaz suggests and both of them carry out the action to the dot.
Once done, they make their way to the verandah, set up the camera and slump down on the cold stone floor, resting their backs against the wall. Faraaz pulls out his cell phone from one of the numerous pockets of his cargo and checks it.The cell is in full network zone, all bars standing tall. In doing so, he also notices the time on the home screen.
“11.30!” he announces dismissively before stuffing it back. 'Here we are sitting almost in another world, cut out of civilization for now and yet we are connected to our world. Waah re insaan!' He mentally grins at the irony.
Vivek tries to drown a large yawn but does not come near doing so.
“Don't tell me you are sleepy!” Faraaz chuckles.
“Heck, no. But it is so peaceful. Certainly does not feel that we are inside the most haunted place in India.”
“ I don't know,” Faraaz looks in the distance. “The silence is kind of oppressive… just like the lull before a storm.”
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A shrill alarm shatters the silence just as Faraaz finishes his words. Both of them react immediately, reaching out to the motion detector in the courtyard. The twin beams of the powerful torches light up the area around the machine. Nothing!
“False alarm!” Vivek sighs.
“Are you sure?” Faraaz looks at the EMF meter that remains stable. He shrugs his shoulders and they slowly go back to their vigil. Vivek rummages inside his jacket and pulls out a small plastic pouch containing peanuts. He removes a handful and passes on roughly half of them to Faraaz while breaking a couple simultaneously. The crunch of the nutshell echoes in the silence.
“Did you hear that?”Faraaz suddenly jumps onto his feet.
“Hear what?”
“I thought I heard a woman scream.”
The sound came again. It was loud and clear this time. It sounded like a woman screaming in terror almost as if all the horrors in the world chased her. The sound was followed by a huge splash as if something heavy had plunged down in a body of water.
“The step-well?” Vivek asks.
“Rani?” Faraaz raises an eyebrow.
“A Jackal?” Vivek suggests in an uncertain manner.
“No. Come on, it clearly seemed more like a woman tearing her lungs out.”
Both of them start feeling distinctly uneasy. A feeling of dread, a measured shifting fear takes hold of their hearts.
Vivek tries to speak but soon realises that his dry throat and his tongue are struck together. He feels round his rucksack and pulls out a small water bottle.
He puts it to his mouth and gulps down half the contents noisily. Once done, he passes it on to Faraaz who is grateful enough to accept it.
Vivek peeks nervously at the EMF meter. A constant reading reassures him somewhat.
“Do you think we should go towards the step-well and investigate?” he asks.
“No.” Faraaz shakes his head. “Whatever it was, it seems to have gone silent for now. The fort is too spread out. Let's stick to this place. We'll see the step-well tomorrow.”
Even as he says it, he hears a crazy shaking laughter in his head.
“If tomorrow comes…Haha…If tomorrow comes…” The voice seems dripping with evil, each note sounding malicious enough to hurt his eardrums. He shoots up almost immediately, startling Vivek in the process.
“What?” Vivek asks, clutching his chest.
Faraaz shakes his head in an effort to chase the voice away. “If the alarm beeps again don't flash your torch. Focus the camcorder and see if the night vision picks something up,” he says, trying to avert the topic.
As if almost waiting for his instructions, the alarm beeps again, shattering the silence of the night. Vivek immediately checks the bulky camera and focuses on the courtyard.
“Did you see anything?” Faraaz whispers, slouching down to Vivek's level.
“ No. But…” The answer is interrupted by a shower of pebbles that rains on their heads, each stone finds its mark, not one misses the target.
“What the hell...” Faraaz curses as they switch on their torches simultaneously while shooting out a hand to protect themselves. The pebbles stop falling as suddenly as they had started.
“Something is definitely around… and it does not want us here,” Vivek mumbles in a nervous tone as he looks at the EMF meter again. “But this is not picking up anything.”
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“No variation in temperature either!” Faraaz rubs his head, looking at the temperature recorder.
“Scary!” Vivek says.
Faraaz tries to settle his ruffled nerves a bit by stretching his muscles. “I have an idea,” he says. “Let me place this EMF meter and temperature recorder near the motion detector in the corner and see if there is a variation in the readings.”
“Are you sure it is a good idea?”
“Piece of cake. I'll be back before you know.”
Faraaz picks up the stick and walks to the alarm at the far end of the courtyard. He glances around in the half-light while on the move. As soon as he reaches the spot, he unclips the EMF meter and places it carefully on the ground. He then takes hold of the temperature recorder from his pocket and places it next to the motion detector. At that precise moment, a large stone lands next to him, missing his head by inches. He switches on the torch and swings it around, the stick in his right hand ready to take on any assailant.
“Kaun hai?” He shouts, trying to sound braver than he feels. “Why don't you show yourself?” His voice echoes back. Nobody answers.
“It's better to stay together here at night,” he reasons to himself, turning back in the direction he had come from. He half walks, half runs back to the room.
“There is someone out there,” Faraaz almost shouts as soon as he sees Vivek's back. “But I am not sure what kind of presence, it is.”
Vivek does not reply and this irks his companion.
“Hello, did you hear what I said?”Faraaz asks, a bit louder this time.
Vivek does not even budge but seems to be staring at the camera in his hands. Faraaz places a hand on his shoulder and the moment his fingers touch the cold skin, Vivek swerves around with surprising ferocity letting go of the infrared camera from his hand that crashes on the ground with its display pointed towards them. His specs are gone and the blood red eyes seem to root Faraaz to the spot.
The EMF meter in Faraaz's hand suddenly starts dancing around in a frantic manner, its needle going from one extreme to the other at a surprising speed, jerking him awake from the shock. He backtracks slowly still not losing focus on Vivek who seems to be growling at him. He does not need to look at the temperature meter to confirm the sudden drop in the mercury. With shaking hands, he fishes out his cell phone. The moment he sees all network bars lying flat, the instrument crashes down from his hand and rolls over into a nearby shrub. Gathering some courage, Faraaz moves slowly in a round path towards Vivek and picks up the night vision camera, hoping it had picked up some clue.
“Krrr… krrr…” the camera sounds as he nears it. The moment Faraaz touches it, he pulls back almost at the same instant. The device is burning hot. The very next moment, the camera repositions itself on its own accord, focusing the lens on him.
“Krr… krrr… krr…” the screen goes static with black flashes.
“What the…” Faraaz tries to say trying to backtrack, faster this time. Suddenly, his body hits an invisible barrier in the air. The hairs on the nape of his neck bristle and creep forward.There is someone behind him. Yes, he can feel it. A cold sinister breath down his neck.
“Krrr… krrr…” the camera seems to laugh, each note sounding malicious enough to hurt his eardrums.
Table of Contents
Dedicated To
Foreword
PRELUDE
That Fateful Night
The Long Weekend
The Man Who Did Not Fear
Strangers In The Night
The Muse Comes Calling
The Lady In The Pub
A Mother's Love
Red Bangles
The Mark of the Beast
The Mystery Lake
POSSESSION
Unfulfilled Desires
Dream Girl
Epilogue